About Blood

About Blood

History of Blood Banking

Bloodletting

Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which
blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors," the
proper balance of which maintained health.

c. 2500 BCE: Egyptians Use
Bleeding

A tomb illustration in Memphis, Egypt, depicts a patient being
bled from the foot and neck. Though the bloodletting was often
recommended by physicians it was carried out by barbers, eventually
symbolized by the red-and-white-striped barber pole.

1897: Dracula by Irish Author Bram
Stoker is Published

Remembered as the quintessential vampire novel, it provided the
basis of modern vampire fiction… the taking of blood from the
living to sustain the "life" of the undead.

Late 1800s: Bloodletting Medically
Questioned

The benefits of bloodletting began to be seriously questioned in
the second half of the 1800s. Some still considered it beneficial
in some circumstances, for instance to "clear out" infected or
weakened blood or to stop hemorrhaging. Some forms of bloodletting
persisted into the 20th century.

1860. One of only
three known bloodletting photographs (tintype).
Source

Transfusions

1492: First Historical
Transfusion Attempt

The blood of three 10-year-old boys was infused by
mouth into Pope Innocent VIII as he sank into a coma. The Pope and
the boys died.

1667: First Recorded Human
Transfusion

The first fully documented human blood transfusion
was administered in France. King Louis XIV's doctor transfused
the blood of a sheep into a 15-year-old boy, who
survived.

1818: First Recorded
Human-to-Human Transfusion

British obstetrician and physiologist James Blundell
performs the first recorded human-to-human blood transfusion. He
injected a patient suffering from internal bleeding with 12 to 14
ounces of blood from several donors. The patient died after
initially showing improvement.

1901: Three Main Blood Groups
Discovered

Discovery of the three main human blood groups, A, B,
and C, which is later changed to O. Research charts the regular
pattern of reaction that occurs after mingling the serum and red
cells of an initial set of six blood specimens.

1902: Fourth Blood Group
Discovered

Fourth blood group, AB, is identified.

1907: First Use of Cross
Matching

Cross matching checks the blood of donors and
recipients for signs of incompatibility.

1914: First Non-Direct
Transfusion

The first transfusions had to be made directly from
donor to receiver before coagulation. Researchers discover that
adding sodium citrate to blood will prevent it from clotting.
Adding anticoagulant and refrigerating the blood made it possible
to store it for days, opening the way for blood banking.

1917: First Blood
Depot

Army doctor collects and stores type O blood, with
citrate-glucose solution, in advance of the Battle of Cambrai in
World War I.

The Impact of War

1922: Blood Donor Service
Established in London

Volunteers agree to be on 24-hour call and to travel
to local hospitals to give blood as the need arises. All volunteers
are screened for disease, tested for blood type, and their names
are entered into a phone log.

1930: First Network of Blood
Facilities

The Soviets are the first to establish a network of
facilities to collect and store blood for use in transfusions at
hospitals.

1935: First In-Hospital Blood
Facilities

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN is the first to begin
storing citrated blood and utilizing it for transfusions within a
hospital setting in the U.S.

1936: Barcelona
Blood-Transfusion Service

The Barcelona Blood-Transfusion Service collects
blood, tests it, pools it by blood group, preserves and stores it
in bottles under refrigeration, and by way of vehicles fitted with
refrigerators, transports it to front line hospitals during the
Spanish Civil War.

1948: Development of Plastic
Bag

Seven community-based blood centers came together
with the help of local hospitals, physicians and civic groups to
establish America's Blood Centers.

1964: Community Blood Center
Established

Community Blood Center (CBC) established in a Dayton
medical building basement.

1971: CBC Moves to Current
Location

CBC moved to current Dayton headquarters.

1965: Cryoprecipitates
Developed

The discovery that slowly thawed frozen plasma yields
deposits high in Factor VIII. These deposits, called
cryoprecipitates - or cryo - are found to have much greater
clotting power than plasma and are given to hemophiliacs to stop
bleeding episodes.

1971: FDA Regulation

Regulation of blood banking transfers from the
Division of Biologics Standards (DBS) to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).

1971: Testing for Hepatitis
B

Development of a test for hepatitis B antibodies,
thereby identifying infected donors; the test is mandated by the
FDA.

The plastic blood bag was introduced to blood banking shortly after
World War II.

America's Blood Centers was founded in
1962.

Community Blood Center, founded in 1964, maintains
its headquarters in Dayton, OH.

The Era of Aids

1981: First Case of
AIDS

The first cases of a syndrome initially called GRID
(Gay-related Immunodeficiency Disease), due to its prevalence among
gay men, are reported. It is later renamed AIDS (Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome).

1982: Blood-Borne
Theory

When hemophiliacs also begin to develop GRID, theory
developed that the syndrome may be blood borne.

1983: AIDS Virus
Isolated

1984: AIDS Virus
Identified

1985: First AIDS Blood-Screening
Test

First blood-screening test to detect the presence or
absence of HIV antibodies. The ELISA test is universally adopted by
American blood banks and plasma centers.

1999: NAT Testing

Blood centers in the United States begin
implementation of Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) for all blood
donations. It narrows the so-called window period - after - a donor
is infected by HIV, Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C but - before - the
condition is detectable by routine methods.